When the Tide Turns
by QuixoticQuest
Summary: As the year turns from one to another, things change, people get older, and friends become... what?


**When the Tide Turns**

_A/N- It's been a while since my last one-shot so I figured I'd write one in the spirit of the new beginning of a decade. This was just a random combination of thoughts about changing through time and the kinds of confusion that comes with that- among other things._

_Hope everyone had a great New Years and I wish you all the best in this new decade._

_Yours Truly,_

_-Don "QuixoticQuest" =)_

* * *

"People change," "The world keeps turning," "There'll always be new obstacles for you to overcome," no matter how it was versed, the message was always the same. Every year, no matter how much Nita tried not to, she changed. It was hard to believe that she could even look her previous self in the eyes after all she'd been through today.

She'd even cringed at the difference between the person she saw in the videos her mother had filmed of Nita when she was little and the person Nita was today. She knew things she hadn't back then and moreover Nita's mother wasn't alive today to tell Nita for the umpteenth time that changing from a teenager into a young adult was okay and that the mindset was completely different than that a high school student.

Nita felt like she needed to hear it from someone other than her father or the school's therapist and most of all she didn't want to tell Kit that she was feeling insecure. He'd end up worrying because insecurities meant serious side effects for wizardry. The last thing Nita wanted was to worry about her wizardry when her questions had nothing to do with that.

So that, in short, was how she found herself sitting on the bed while the arched eyebrows of Dairine Callahan bore into her older sister's.

"So let me get this straight… you want _my _help? _Mine?_"Dairine's eyes widened. "We've got less time to live than everyone seems to think. 2012? Forget it, the world's ending this year."

"Dairine," Nita cut in sharply, though still desperately.

"Jokes aside," Dairine said plainly and in a serious tone, "What is it you're so worked up about?"

"I'm changing." Nita said.

"Yeah… and?" Dairine said with her usual sarcastic tone. Nita resisted the urge to yell at Dairine and/or run out of the room and slamming the door behind her.

"And," Nita put in strongly, "I'm not happy with who I am."

Dairine focused on her sister seriously, "Nita, you're twenty one years old, you've got the world's greatest wizard for a sister, you've rescued over half the world and they're in debt to you, you've got your path set to becoming a senior, _and_ you've managed to steal the heart of every poor hapless idiot who's ever seen you in your prom dress. What's not to like?"

Nita had to admit that Dairine had a good point, minus the prom dress, and Nita also reluctantly admitted that Dairine had done good wizardry over the years. Nita wasn't going to sell herself short and say that she didn't know that Tom and Carl had been giving Nita more difficult assignments in order to get her ready for possibly becoming a senior. But Nita knew that her own issues were on a ground level.

"What if I said that I'm worried about becoming something I'm not?" Nita asked. Dairine thought about it for a moment then clasped her hands as she leaned forward from the chair she was seated on.

"I'm going to be straight with you, Nita." Dairine said.

"And you're never just saying things straight out?" Nita asked. Dairine scowled.

"Do you want my advice or not?" At Nita's silence, Dairine continued, "I'm not sure exactly what you're worried about becoming, but I'm sure you'll always be you," Dairine snorted, "As much as it pains me to say that."

"Ha," Nita said, "I'm worried about changing so much from who I was before that nobody will remember me."

Dairine looked curiously at Nita then smirked, "Are we talking about Kit here?" Dairine took one look at Nita's aversion of her eyes and then nodded. "Since it's Kit we're talking about, I know for a fact that Kit wouldn't be able to say he hasn't changed either. I mean the guy's grown what, four inches since the day he turned eighteen?"

"That's an exaggeration." Nita said.

"Whatever," Dairine said with a flick of her hair, "Listen, Neets, if Kit doesn't want to accept that hey, you grew a few inches and you actually want to be proactive in your life or whatever else it is you think has changed, then he's the stupid one, not you."

Nita decided that was probably the most she was going to get out of Dairine in terms of compliments, so Nita decided to elaborate, "What about changing emotionally?"

Dairine snorted, "What am I, a shrink?" Dairine shook her head, "Okay, Nita, this is the last piece of advice I'm going to give you because I've got some serious rearranging to do for a planet," She paused then eyed Nita, "Just go ahead and say whatever it is that's on your mind because there's a chance that that spell wielding moron you call a best friend is thinking the exact same thing."

_Spell wielding moron? _Nita mused. _I think I'll have to steal that one._

"I think I'll take your advice." Nita said and stood up.

"Good, because you two are really getting on my nerves." Dairine said and flopped back on her bed and began reading some text on Spot's screen. Nita grinned and closed the door to Dairine's biggest eye roll yet and her muttered, "Kids."

Nita almost skipped to Kit's door and it opened right as Nita was about to open it herself. Kit almost knocked Nita over.

"Whoa, Neets, what're you doing here?" He questioned as Nita steadied herself on the porch.

"Ditching college," She said sarcastically, "What do you think I'm here for?"

Kit scratched the back of his head, "Um, honestly, I have no clue."

Nita sighed and then grabbed Kit's hand. "Come on, I've got to talk to you."

"And we can't do it here?" He asked but Nita wasn't really listening. They started out towards the woods and then after walking for a while they arrived at the very spot where Nita and Kit had first met. Kit looked around.

"I remember this place. I haven't been here in ages." He then returned his gaze to Nita, who was shifting a little.

"Are you okay?" He asked. Nita shrugged.

"To be honest, no, I'm not." She decided it was better to be straight with him than not. Dairine was right, even if she was annoying most of the time, Dairine had an annoying habit of being right.

Kit's brown eyes scanned Nita and he walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Neets, tell me. If it's bothering you this much why didn't you say something before?"

Nita sighed, "Because I didn't want you to worry. That's why."

Kit looked confused, "Hang on, how serious is this thing we're talking about?"

"Extremely."

"Okay… did someone die?" Kit asked.

"You'd know if they did, Kit." Nita answered.

"Did someone hurt you?" Kit asked, his eyes flaring at the idea. Again Nita shook her head. Why did Dairine think he knew? Kit was completely clueless. "Then what is it? I don't know what's bothering you if you don't tell me."

Nita sighed and then cast a glance over her shoulder, "Do you remember when we first came here?"

"Of course I do," Kit said firmly although he still remained thoroughly confused.

"What did you feel back then?"

"I felt really confused, like I do right now." Kit said with a raised eyebrow. "Seriously, Neets, why don't you just tell me what's going on?"

Nita sighed for the second time, "I was getting to that. But I'll cut to the chase," She looked at him, "Kit, I don't feel the same way that I did back then or how I felt the first year or so I knew you for."

His eyes narrowed, "So what are you saying? You don't want to be wizardry partners anymore?"

_And he got an A in our Psychology class, _Nita thought. "I'm saying I don't want to be just wizardry partners or just best friends."

"Then what _do _you want to be?" Kit asked, now frowning deeply.

"You tell me." Nita said, folding her arms across her chest. Kit blinked, opening his mouth and then shutting it again. Then his eyes widened.

"Wait, you don't mean you like me, do you?" He asked with a slight twitch in his step.

Nita smiled, "No, I mean that I like you a lot more than I should probably admit."

"Oh," Was all Kit managed to say as they stood in relative silence. Nita sighed. _So much for Kit feeling the same way, he clearly doesn't or he wouldn't have gone quiet after I said that._

"Well, I guess that's that," Nita said. "Sorry that I had to drop that on you." She then turned and started out of the woods. It was so obvious from the start that they weren't even on the same wavelength as each other. They weren't even close to thinking the same thing let alone feeling the same thing. _It wasn't what Kit wanted_, Nit thought dejectedly, _I have to respect that_.

Nita was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear the crunch of footsteps behind her. It wasn't until Nita felt the warm arms wrapped around her torso that she stepped walking.

"You know, walking away after you tell someone something like that doesn't give them time to respond." His arms left her and now Kit was standing in front of Nita, whose voice was caught in her throat. He smiled as he put his hand in the pockets of his pants. "It might not be what you want to say, but it's important to. We haven't seen all that much of each other since we started college, so I was beginning to wonder if you even still wanted to be friends."

Nita found her voice, "Kit, we might not have seen each other as much, but I know for a fact that I haven't exactly forgotten about our friendship."

He nodded, "I know. But you didn't say anything before about wanting to be more than that."

Nita suddenly realized what Dairine had meant. _Powers, Dairine is way too smart for her own good. _"Does that mean you already have a girlfriend?"

Kit shifted, "I did," He answered slowly, his eyes focused on his feet as he scuffed them across the ground, "But we didn't stay together for very long." He glanced up at Nita. "I couldn't find anyone I liked. I was mad for a while because I knew you'd never see me that way. Some part of me never wanted to give up even if you told me flat out 'no,' it was hard for me to think of anyone the way I did you."

Nita took her turn to blink, "So you felt that change too?"

Kit laughed, "I felt it a long time ago, Nita. Right when we came back from dark Manhattan I got this strange feeling that I wasn't supposed to ever leave you behind. Until we got to the Beach at Long Island I didn't know why. You were reckless and there wasn't a single person to tell you what to do. Not me, not anyone. So what could I do but just make sure I was there every time you got into trouble." He sighed, his breath heavy with his words, "If you'll let me, I'd like to keep doing that," He lifted his eyes to meet Nita's more directly. "For a long time."

"Kit, I don't know…" Nita said.

"You don't have to think about it now or even until we both graduate, but I do know for me, there's no one else out there." Kit sighed and then averted his gaze again. Nita stood stock still for a while, unsure of what to say. She'd decided to confess to Kit when he'd turned it around and confessed to her in turn. In fact, he'd done even more than that. _But I feel the same way, don't I? I haven't had a boyfriend since Freshman year and every guy doesn't seem to understand me or wizardry for that matter. _

"Neets?" Kit questioned at her furrowed brow. Kit almost jumped when her expression suddenly changed from one of intense thought to complete satisfaction.

"Fine by me if you want to handle the trouble," She said with a broad grin. Kit's jaw nearly dropped and he stood there, stunned.

"If you can't even handle this, how do you plan to handle the rest of it?" Nita asked with a raised eyebrow. He clamped his jaw shut.

"Hey, come on. I just didn't expect you to respond so quickly." He answered as Nita began to start walking again. Kit ran to walk level with her. She stopped.

"Well, things change." She said then kissed him on the lips before briskly walking back towards her house. Some things had changed, but Nita still managed to surprise Kit in the best of ways, and he liked it that way.

**A/N- Well, it wasn't my best work, but I hope you all enjoyed it regardless. Thanks for reading and please review! =)**


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